


Last Letter

by Lunarium



Category: A Redtail's Dream (Webcomic)
Genre: F/F, SSSS crossover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-15
Updated: 2017-01-15
Packaged: 2018-09-17 16:05:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9332690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lunarium/pseuds/Lunarium
Summary: While preparing for Åsa’s birthday, Riika reads a letter sent from a friend in another town.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [yuuago](https://archiveofourown.org/users/yuuago/gifts).



In Riika’s arms she carried grocery items, which Jonna relieved of the moment the poor thing staggered into the house, all soaked but smiling, rosy-cheeked though not one inch of her was free with all the bags. She must have attempted to carry every single one from her car into the house. 

“Silly thing, give me that!” 

Jonna rewarded Riika with a kiss to the cheek, and helped her put the items away. She had agreed to make some special buns, cookies, and cakes in honor of Riika’s aunt Åsa for her approaching birthday. As the woman spoke of nothing but seals lately, the two women had decided to make that their theme. 

“Jonna, these are excellent!” Riika said when she stole a peek at the buns cooling on the counter. 

“That’s one set of designs,” Jonna said. “You should see what I have in mind for the cake! It’ll be enough for the whole village!” 

Her eyes fell on a handful of mail that Riika had tucked into one of the grocery bags, and one in particular. It wasn’t nice of her to snoop around, and she hadn’t meant to, but the handwriting on the corner of the envelope, very familiar, caught her eye: neat, nice cursive, tiny black hearts for dots over the _i_ and _ä_ , and ridiculous little drawn vines around the name and home address. 

“Your friend wrote to you!” Jonna pointed out. 

“I know!” Riika said with a big smile. “With the weather we’ve been having, I didn’t think we would get any!” 

Grinning, Jonna pulled the envelope and handed it to Riika so she spend a few precious moments savoring the letter in her hand. Jonna herself leaned over the counter and rested her chin on her hands. The two girls were friends since school, but her friend had left to live in another town to take over the family business. 

“Well? What’s the update? What doe Helmi have to say?” 

“I—oh! Let me get it out!” 

The song on the radio switched into a quieter piece, which was fitting as Riika shrugged out the letter and began to read. The rain beat more heavily against the windows. 

“There’s a lot of fear going on in Mikkeli,” Riika said after a quick glance through the letter. “Helmi said she’s thinking of closing the restaurant after seeing people scratching and one guy was—ew—she swore she saw welts and boils all over his neck and he was coughing all over the bowls and dishes that she just tossed them out in the back alley trash bin. She won’t even let Aino near any of the diners because she’s so near her due date, and—Jonna, this isn’t looking good!” 

Jonna made a tiny, indiscernible sound. The song ended, and the radio DJs had come on the air with Esko giving his usual forecast. More rain, like the past week and a half. There was something odd about this constant rain, though she couldn’t put a finger on why. Like her dreams. 

For the last month Jonna had the oddest dreams. Really vivid ones. She’s had her share of sleep paralysis and the like, and she didn’t fancy ever getting those again. These were different. She was too conscious in these dreams to really be asleep; there wasn’t pressure on her chest or a sense of alarm or anxiety that something was amiss, but there was something clearly different, a sense that something in her chest was pooling, about to pour out, like a swirling cool light about to burst out through her fingertips like the witches and wizards in movies. She could travel anywhere she wanted, could will amazing things with her mind, but roam as she did she could scarcely find Riika, no matter how many times she had crossed the street the house was located. 

“There’s plans of evacuation, Helmi says,” Riika continued. “She thinks this may be her last letter for a while.She wanted to close the restaurant until things got better, but you hear the news—it’s _not_ getting better! Do you think they will ask us to leave too?” 

Jonna shook herself out of her reverie, noticing the worried look on Riika’s face. “Us? I haven’t seen anyone in Hokanniemi itching, have you?” 

Riika shook her head, but the concern didn’t abate. With a sigh, Jonna busied herself with the oven. The next batch was ready, and should take Riika’s mind off any rash epidemic. Her charming smile did reappear as Jonna proudly displayed a line of seal cookies. Åsa was going to adore these, she just knew it. 

“If things get worse, we’ll ask Åsa if she can take us on her boat to a safer place, like an island,” Jonna said with one arm over Riika’s shoulder. “How would you like that? We can ask her on her birthday.” 

Riika’s smile, as sweet as Jonna’s cookies, brought warmth to Jonna’s heart. She leaned up and kissed her lips. “I would love that very much!”


End file.
